Battle of Guangzong

The Battle of Guangzong occurred in 184 AD during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The forces loyal to the Han dynasty, under the overall command of He Jin, outflanked the Yellow Turban army under Zhang Jiao and slew the Yellow Turban leader, ending the rebellion in one decisive battle.

Background
In 184 AD, corruption within the Imperial Court and a devastating famine led to widespread unrest across the Han dynasty. Hundreds of thousands flocked to the Way of Peace cult and joined the Yellow Turbans, who soon posed a major threat to the stability of the Han dynasty. The Imperial Court sent out a call to arms to warlords from across the land, assembling an army to defeat the uprising. The army was commanded by the imperial regent He Jin, and it included officials and generals such as Wang Yun, Huangfu Song, Kong Rong, Zhu Jun, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, and Zhang Miao.

Battle
The Coalition forces confronted the Yellow Turban army at Guangzong, where the Yellow Turbans had been pillaging the nearby villages. Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu rescued a village from the Yellow Turban bandits, while Sun Jian and Cao Cao's forces destroyed the Yellow Turbans' vanguard. The Han forces then pushed against the Yellow Turbans, defeating their forces in front of the mountain passes. As the Han forces advanced, Zhang Liang used sorcery to create rockslides, and the Han advance was impeded until he was defeated. The Han were again impeded by Zhang Ba, who summoned spells to create strong winds which pushed the Han soldiers down the hills. Guan Yu located a cliff on the Yellow Turbans' right flank which led around their lines, and Liu Bei and his forces managed to climb the cliff and attack Zhang Ba from the rear and defeat him. With Zhang Ba's defeat, the winds ceased, and the Han forces advanced up the mountain passes and reached Zhang Jiao's altar. Zhang Jiao summoned blasts of fire, but his spells were destroyed when the Han troops destroyed the ceremonial statues empowering him. Zhang Jiao was then cut down after taunting the Han forces for their inability to preserve the unity of their collapsing dynasty, and the rebellion was defeated.